President Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday cast himself as a wartime leader in full control of his invasion and his nation, his confidence on display in a stage-managed, four-hour news conference that underscored the Russian leader’s apparent determination to outlast Ukraine and the West.
Mr. Putin said his vaguely defined goals of the “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine had not changed. He reiterated that he was open to peace talks, but offered no hint of a willingness to compromise. And he boasted that Ukraine’s Western backing appeared to be running dry, a sign of how the impasse in Washington over more funding for Ukraine had buoyed the mood in the Kremlin.
“Peace will come when we achieve our goals,” Mr. Putin said. Referring to Western military aid to Ukraine, he added: “They’re getting everything as freebies. But these freebies can run out at some point, and it looks like they’re already starting to run out.”
Mr. Putin spoke from a position of relative strength. Russian forces fended off Ukraine’s counteroffensive this year and are now attacking in several areas along the front line, and military production in Russia is ramping up.